Tuesday, 5 October 2010

Water, Malted Barley, Hops & Yeast

I'm about to start sounding like a right grumpy old bastard so please forgive me or stop reading this post now before you get bored.
There is a current trend in the beer scene that says that ales have to be hopped then dry-hopped, green-hopped, mega-fuckin-hopped and then hopped again. Really? Not so my friends. Those of you that read this blog on a regular basis will know that I am a bit of a 'hophead'. Last night however, I had a great balanced beer, what gave it the balance, why that'll be one of the other four main ingredients in beer, the malt!
The beer in question is Kernel Pale Ale with Amarillo and Centennial hops, this pale ale is slightly darker than most of Evin's previous concoctions in as much as it's a light amber colour! Boy it's great beer though, totally drinkable, so much so that I went from having a quick half before going home to having a couple of pints of it before leaving!
People were insisting on more hops last night for his next round of these beers but I personally think this was pretty much the perfect beer and without wanting to sound patronising, I think it marked a certain 'coming of age' or maturity in the brewing that whilst the beers were great, hasn't been seen before and I hope that he just get overly persuaded by the beer mafia wannabes and keeps making these superb brews. Hops are all well and good but when you find the perfect mix, why change it?
If it ain't broke don't fix it!